Turn off the lights

If you don’t remember biology class too well, you might not realize that our eyes are made up of cone cells and rod cells. These cells account for us seeing colour and us seeing light. When it is dark these cells shut down and this is why we feel tired and are able to fall asleep more easily. But if you always have bright lights on before going to sleep your eyes will struggle to relax. This is why switching off the lights and opting for candles or a lamp is much better and will allow you to get ready for a restful slumber.

Switch off the screens

Phone, TV, Tablet… it’s all great to have in the evenings. However the activity of looking at these screens all of the time is keeping our brain awake and it makes it hard for us to relax. Ideally, an hour before bed you will want to shut down all technology and have some reading time or a chat with your partner instead. This will give your body chance to relax and get ready for sleep.

Get better bedding

The bed and bedding you have will always have an impact on your sleep. Whether you have a firm or soft mattress, firm pillows and a thick duvet will determine how well you sleep because it will determine how comfortable you are. Think about looking for Chiropedic bedding to support your back in sleep and look for medium pillows which allow for comfort without your head sinking straight through it. All of these things will make a difference.

Use lavender oil

Essential oils have been used for hundreds of years and have helped with a number of health issues. One of the things it can really help with is your sleep. Lavender oil diluted with some water in a spray bottle can be just what you need to spray on your pillow before you go to sleep. It will help the body relax and allow you to sleep soundly.

Drink mint tea

Whether you like drinking before bed or not, there is a lot to be said for enjoying a refreshing cup of peppermint tea after a long day. Peppermint is a great way to make us feel more relaxed and it can be the perfect brew to enjoy before we go to bed for the night. Think about having a cup about an hour before bed to give your body the chance to soak up all that goodness.

Hope these help!

The Right Ingredients For A Balanced Life

Your diet can play a major part in keeping you happy, full, and healthy. Not to mention, keeping certain health conditions at bay. A lack of vitamins, minerals, and fibre can lead to an array of things that you’ll have to speak to your doctor about, so it’s worth doing all you can to avoid getting sick. It’s not only the vitamins in fresh vegetables and fruit that can boost your inner health; you will benefit from the fibre in meals too. Fibre will help keep everything running smoothly, and ensure that any sugars or carbohydrates within the meal, or throughout the day, are absorbed steadily. It’s important to remember that there are still sugars in fruit, but they will be fat-free and full of vitamins and fibre, so fruit salad is far more nutritious than a pick-and-mix. It’s not about cutting out all carbohydrates and fats; you’ll need these for energy, and to help you all get through the day. Research into potential supplements you might need; reading up on the side effects of ginseng and various other vitamins will help you decide where and what to add to your food.

Switch Off And Rest When Needed

It’s pointless getting medical help, instructions, and medication only to continue on with your life as you did beforehand. It’s crucial that you take enough time away from work, socializing, and any parties, to put your feet up and relax, and get plenty of sleep. Try not to think about what you’re missing out on; look at it as though you are taking action to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible. Choose a night in with a bath, Netflix, and your cosy clothing over a night out for drinks or late night dinners with colleagues. It might not come naturally, especially for all your extroverts out there—but the more you take time to rest and sleep, the more you’ll begin to feel the benefits. And as a bonus, you’ll end up looking great when you do venture out to your next get-together. Filling up on the right stuff and allowing yourself to rest when needed are the best methods for great inner health and leading to a bright and happy future ahead.

I was introduced to Fresh Prep by some co-workers of mine—they all have a subscription and swear by the service. Especially now that I am out of the comfort of my parents’ home (and their daily cooking) it’s been an absolutely life saver.

Setting Up Your Options

Fresh prep offers you several choices when you are setting up your subscription. Depending on your household size and how often you want food delivered, you have a couple of choices to make. Each meal costs about $22 which adds up to about $11 per serving/meal (each “meal” choice serves 2 minimum!) For me, this is a better, healthier means to have dinners and packed lunches throughout the week. As I work in downtown, it’s easy to rack up a hefty bill just from buying food and beverages for lunch.

Each meal serves 2 which is perfect for me because I always have leftovers for lunch the next day. Each week, you can also go into your account to pick which dishes you want sent to you in the coming week.

I love that they also offer different delivery times throughout the week as well. They also recommend, if you’re not going to be home during the delivery times, you put in your office address and receive your meals there.

Packaging

The ingredients are all packed separately and are delivered in a black cooler bag to your front door or office. I’ve had them drop the food off to my apartment door a couple of times, and the cooler bag ensures that the food is still fresh and good-to-go up until I get home and put it all in the fridge.

Selection

Their food selection is also something that was really impressive to me. There are dishes that are repeated throughout the different weeks but there will always be a few new choices every week. You can also set dietary restrictions in your settings so that it only shows you the foods that suit your diet.

My favourites so far? The chicken shawarma and the pork bahn mi! Check out my Instagram Story Highlights for the food photos! 

What’s the Verdict? Worth or not?

With prices coming in at about $10 per meal, I think that the Fresh Prep service is definitely worth it if you’re wanting to cook more from home but maybe don’t have time to go out and buy groceries all the time. It’s also great in the sense that it measures out the exact amount of ingredients you need to make the specific number of servings that you choose. This saves you time, money, and FOOD WASTE! I’m definitely very guilty of stocking up on groceries and then having food rot on me because I wasn’t able to use it all in time.

I think the service is perfect for young professionals like me—people who love to cook yet don’t necessarily always have the time and energy to go out and figure out what to make, what to buy, etc.

Discount Code

For anyone that wants to try the service, Fresh Prep was kind enough to offer me a coupon code for my readers! Use SOTA18 for 3 free plates (worth $33) upon sign up!

Until next time, 

Learn to Fail

Success, and pressure to achieve it at any cost is pushed on us all from a very young age, and the effects are still felt well into our lives. One thing that is not taught enough, is how to deal with failure. If you want to achieve anything in your life, you have to try, and with trying comes the possibility of failing. Learning to deal with it is the best way to ensure you remain positive, and you can dust yourself off, ready to try something else.

Few people are successful from the outset, and if you’re doing it off your own back, then you have to be okay with failing. This is the only thing that will put you on the path to achieving what you want. Then success will be that much sweeter, knowing you have worked for it.

Use that Body of Yours

This is the prime time of your life, and the best your body is ever going to be. Making the most of it is a must, and there is something out there to suit everyone. Achieving physical feats whether that’s being able to run 1km without stopping or a triathlon, will show you how much you are capable of achieving.

Using your body will make you realize how much is mind over matter, and that you can achieve so much with hard work and willpower. Not to mention, looking better, feeling better, and all that dopamine you will experience when you get some exercise!

Try Another Career Path

Many people talk about the current market, that it is harder to get jobs and harder to keep them. So, why not take advantage of that? This is the best time to try a different career path and challenge yourself. You could consult with companies like https://www.gobear.com/my/travel-insurance, and go try and find a career abroad, or in a different part of the country. There are so many opportunities out there, waiting for you to try them.

Knowing what to do with your life is one thing, but making sure you make the most of it along the way is a good place to start. Wherever you go, and wherever you end up, at least you will have had a blast along the way. Now isn’t a time to worry about the future, and get stressed about the pressures of life, it’s a time to try out new things, and learn how to get back up after failures. 

Until next time, 

How I Deal with Anxiety and Stress

Use the Headspace App/Calm App

I know a lot of people who still think these apps are hoax-y but I will personally tell you that they are GREAT. And no I am not getting paid to say this! I first discovered guided meditation apps in my first year of university. I, like the rest of the nay-sayers, thought that this was super lame and a huge waste of time. I definitely do not use the app every day but I’ve found myself reaching for the app at least twice a month for the past year. I mainly enjoy using the app before bed to direct my mind to a place of rest. I used to be someone who struggles with thinking about WAY too many things before sleeping—and have found myself lying awake for hours at a time thinking about nothing and everything. Thankfully I have gotten past that phase in my life and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. But even so, I still really enjoy using the app to clear my mind before falling asleep. I’ve noticed that doing so ensures I have a long, deep sleep every time. ??

Do Yoga

Much like the meditation apps, yoga helps with anxiety because it forces you to breathe while giving you the much-needed tension-relief with stretching. Now I’m not saying you should get down in a downward dog before you head into an interview (although that may not be the worst idea… just do it at home). But giving yourself the time to center yourself with yoga every day could definitely play a huge part in preventing anxiety from ever happening.

I’ve also enjoyed practicing yoga after a long stressful day to re-center myself and promote relaxation in my body and mind before bed. I am a girl who loves and treasures her sleep, so anything that will help me get shut eye until day light is a winner in my books.

Go for a long walk

This is something that definitely isn’t for everyone but is something that has really worked for me. Whenever I am feeling a lot of anxiety, for whatever reason, I like to just get outside, plug in my headphones, and just start walking. My walks range from minutes to hours. I try not to give myself a time limit, and just walk until I am feeling better.

This works for me because it gives me plenty of time to figure whatever it is I need to figure out while providing me with lots and lots of fresh air.

Apply a lotion with a calming scent

I got sent the Lush Sleepy Body Lotion and pretty much learned that this stuff is like crack to me. The light scent of lavender, tonka, and cocoa butter creates a perfect relaxing body lotion. I’ve made it a ritual of mine to slather this stuff all over my body before bed to give myself the most relaxed, deep, aromatherapy sleep ever. It’s definitely called Sleepy for a reason! If there was a candle in this scent I would have it burning constantly.

The lotion consistency is super creamy and is a heavier moisturizer so I wouldn’t recommend applying this right before putting on clothes or going out. But for an at-home body lotion, this is the puuuurfect product.

Running Your Wrists Under Cold Water

This is one that I saw on a TV show and decided to try one day when I was all out of options. It’s definitely the weirdest one out of the bunch but was actually very effective. All you do for this is one is:

• Turn on the faucet to cold
• Let the water run until it’s cold
• Run you wrists underneath the streaming cold water
• Take ten deep breaths

Warning: your wrists will get VERY cold. But for some reason this has worked every time I’ve tried and it has quickly become a great way to get some instant anxiety relief.

So those are my tips and tricks to relieving stress and anxiety! If you have any tricks that you love, share them with me in the comments below or tweet me @angelzhng.

Until next time,

But I will definitely work towards it this month… and the month after that… all the way until the end of this year. And hopefully, at the end of this year, I will have at least rid myself of my lazy habits.

I find that one thing about having a gym membership, or a yoga membership.. or any membership… the hardest part is forcing yourself to leave the house and go TO the gym. That’s why I find, at least for now, at home workouts in between school work and blog work are my best bet.

SO, I thought I would share with you 5 at home workouts that I’ve been enjoying.

1. P90X

P90X is intense. I definitely do not do all the workouts that they offer. I could do some of them when I was in high school (I was a lot more fit back then), but even then I would be huffing and puffing and dying after their workouts. Nowadays, the only workout from P90X that I still do is the Ab Ripper X . It’s probably the only thing I can still complete. I linked their website above, but honestly (should I be saying this?) I torrented it.

2. YOGA WITH ADRIENNE

Here’s a little bit more of a chill one. This is a Yoga youtube channel that I followed religiously for a while. She does this great 30 Days of Yoga series as well as separate Yoga videos that concentrates on specific parts of the body that you want to work on (eg. Yoga for runners, Yoga for headaches, Yoga for lower back pains). I think I’m going to restart the 30 Days of Yoga series starting tomorrow.

3. DO YOU YOGA

Do You Yoga also has a great 30 Days of Yoga series. I enjoy Do You Yoga because Erin Motz, one of the instructors for this channel, seems like just your regular girl. She isn’t your super spiritual yogi type, which don’t get me wrong, I love my spiritual yogis sometimes. But other times, when I just want to treat yoga as a work out process instead of a healing session, I enjoy watching Erin more.

4. KAYLAITSINES’ BBG WORKOUT

This is one of my more recent discoveries. How I actually found Kaylaitsines is through her instagram. There was a while when I went on a following binge, and followed about ten different fitspo (fitness inspiration) instagram accounts. And then after seeing the before and after” pictures from her account again and again, I finally decided to research further and see what it was all about. Turns out it is a healthy eating and workout plan that lasts 12 weeks. So I decided to give it a try ! So far I’m only on day 3 of the workout schedule (and no I haven’t been doing it everyday like it suggests… give me a break though, you can’t go from bed potato to fit bitch in a blink of an eye..) but I haven’t been taking the healthy eating plan as seriously. I think for myself, if I’m going to put in a lot of effort working out, I want to be able to eat whatever the heck I want. So that’s what I’m going to do. If I feel like I deserve a lava cake, I’m going to eat a god damn lava cake and you can’t stop me. Anyways, I’m really enjoying her workouts though, and it is definitely worth checking out.

5. BLOGILATES 

Cassey Ho, the instrutor of this youtube channel, is a very upbeat, happy character on her channel. Blogilates is definitely not your relaxing, healing Yoga videos. Her content is a lot more upbeat, and done to pop songs. This channel is a great one to watch if you’re feeling like a “GIRL POWER, F*CK YEAH, TRAIN LIKE A BEAST, LOOK LIKE A BEAUTY” video. Which honestly, a lot of the times I do! Which girl doesn’t need a little extra girl power boost every now and then.

So those are the 5 at home workouts that I try to follow religiously. I’m not going to lie, I definitely don’t workout as hard or as much as I’d like, but I’m definitely going to try a lot harder this year, to get to where I want to be.

If you give any of these workouts a try, or you’ve tried them before, let me know how you like them! OR if you have any other at home workouts that you love, let me know ! I’m always looking for some new ones to try out.

It’s going to be a good year!

More soon,

Kerastase has these amazing 3 step collections/rituals that help Bathe, Treat, and Texturize your hair. And the best part, they actually have multiple DIFFERENT rituals depending on your hair type and what your hair needs! They developed this diagnostic tool to help their customers find out exactly what products their hair needs in order to be healthy and beautiful.

I personally chose their Cristalliste collection for my thick, pin-straight hair. I want my hair to look healthy and feel light and be manageable. I find that ever since I started bleaching and dying my hair, the health of my hair has definitely gone down hill. And now that I’m finally back to black, I want my hair to feel back to its healthy self as well.

I’ve teamed up with Kerastase to give away one of these personalized three step ritual to one of my lucky readers!

RULES:

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post telling me which personalized collection is most suitable for your hair needs (you can use the diagnostic tool to find out) and an email address to contact you at. And that’s it! I will pick one winner by the end of the week and you’ll get sent the personalized collection!

Only one comment per person please!

I’m super glad I got the opportunity to do this giveaway and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you! I’m really hoping I get a lot more chances like this in the future so that I can keep giving back to you guys.

For now, make sure to leave me a comment for your chance to win!

GOOD LUCK.

Until next time,

I am so excited to finally be able to share this amazing campaign with everyone… 

Back story :

Recently I was contacted by the beautiful and sweet Taylor Hui to be a part of a campaign with an amazing message. BeaYOUtiful is a not-for-profit organization that she started to support and promote confidence and self-love within young girls. The campaign, “The Roster”, is a gathering of some of Vancouver’s top influencers to stand together in redefining society’s idea of what “beautiful” means. This weekend will be the official launch of their black and white t-shirts! 10% of the proceeds will be going toward the BeaYOUtiful organization. 

I am absolutely in love with the simple and clean cut of these t-shirts.

“Two shirts, one goal. The Roster strives to break the boundaries of what media defines as “beautiful”. We are crossing boarders to exemplify that self-confidence and respect among men and women, is what a beautified world should look like. “

I’ve included some pictures below from the shoot for The Roster’s t-shirts. 

I just want to say I’m super thankful Taylor contacted me to be a part of this movement. I strongly believe in the importance of encouraging young girls and boys to love themselves for who they are rather than to compare themselves to society’s idea of “perfect”. We are all unique and beautiful in our own way. I think a lot of people would be much happier if they could realize and understand that. 

Join us in supporting this cause and shop the limited edition t-shirts at BeTheRoster.com now ! 

OR check out their links here : 

The Roster Instagram

BeaYOUtiful Instagram

Noah’s (Photographer) Instagram